Webinar: “Not my Riot - SAPS, local government and crowd management" [1 August 2024]

Public protest is a daily occurrence in South Africa. The decision in the early 2000's to reduce the size of public order policing (POP) was a response to the then reduction in the number of protests. Unfortunately protests increased, and the South African Police Service (SAPS) did not have adequate capacity. In the cities, metropolitan police services began addressing the problem, even acquiring water cannons and riot gear. 

The question of how to deal with protest at local level and who is responsible is a live one, given that the Constitution appears to accord this responsibility to the SAPS. The National Commissioner of SAPS has powers in terms of the SAPS Act to determine “Standards” for metro police and in early 2024 the SAPS published new Standards for crowd management for metro police, which seem to outsource responsibility. Yet, there are simply insufficient numbers of SAPS POP available to deal with the problem. How should the problem be resolved?

The loss of life at the hands of the state in the Marikana miners’ strike in 2012, as well as the loss of life and property during the July 2021 Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal riots and the Cape taxi violence of August 2022, form the background to the current developments. This panel discussion will address the issue of protest and crowd management, with particular reference to the draft Standards published by the SAPS.

Facilitator: Prof Lukas Muntingh - Director, Dullah Omar Institute

Panelists:

1. Dr Jean Redpath - Senior Researcher, Dullah Omar Institute
2. Mr Abdirahman Gossar - Researcher, APCOF
3. Mr Revo Spies - Deputy Municipal Police Commissioner; Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department; Chairperson of SALGA Committee: National Research, Technical and Uniform Standards Sub-Committee Meeting for Municipal (Metropolitan) Police Services
4. Dr Andrew Faull - Head: Operational Support, Safety & Security, City of Cape Town

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Following registration, participants will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

We would like to acknowledge the Open Society Foundations and the Sigrid Rausing Trust for making this webinar possible.